Category: Vitamin D

FDA Warns Against Accidental Infant Vitamin Overdose

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has published a warning to parents and caregivers about the dangers of accidental overdose when giving infants liquid vitamin D supplement products.

Some products are sold with droppers that could allow harmful amounts of the vitamin to be given to an infant. These droppers can hold a greater amount of liquid vitamin D than an infant should receive.  Infants should not receive more than 400 international units (IUs) of vitamin D a day.

“It is important that infants not get more than the recommended daily amount of vitamin D,” says Linda M. Katz, M.D., M.P.H., interim chief medical officer in FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. “Parents and caregivers should only use the dropper that comes with the vitamin D supplement purchased.”

Vitamin D helps in the formation of strong bones and is essential to keep children from developing rickets.  Opinions vary as to whether breastfed babies require additional vitamin D supplementation (it is a part of most infant formulas).  Regular exposure to sunlight can provide children with a good source of vitamin D and is, in fact, the way that human were designed to receive the vitamin.  Darker skinned children and babies whose mothers suffer from a vitamin D deficiency (rare in the developed world) might have deficiencies that require supplementation.

Source: FDA and Kellymom.com

Vitamin D Helps Boost Immunity to Colds

A new study reinforces the role that Vitamin D plays in preventing colds and other respiratory tract infections.

Researchers using data from 18,883 participants in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey found that Vitamin D could boost immunity to colds, even after adjusting for demographic and clinical factors such as season, body mass index, and smoking history.  The study, published in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine reinforces the importance of Vitamin D in avoiding upper respiratory tract infections.

Vitamin D is produced by the body when exposed to direct sunlight.   It is crucial for people with limited sun exposure (such as during winter months) to include Vitamin D in their diet.  Good sources of Vitamin D include fatty fish, fish liver oils, and eggs.

SOURCE;  Association Between Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Level and Upper Respiratory Tract Infection in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, Ginde, et al, Arch Intern Med. 2009;169(4):384-390.

Preterm Births Can be Drastically Reduced by Optimizing Vitamin D Levels

New research study shows Mothers who took 4,000 IU’s (ten times the RDA of 400 IU) of vitamin D during pregnancy had their risk of premature birth reduced by half.

As preterm births are on the rise worldwide, there is powerful new evidence supporting the claim that sufficient vitamin D levels can reduce your risk of having a premature delivery. It can also help protect your newborn baby from other health problems.

In what is considered the first scientific trial that meets the most stringent criteria for “evidence-based inquiry,” US researchers Drs. Hollis and Wagner divulged their findings at a recent international vitamin D research conference in Brugge, Belgium.

Their findings included:

  • Mothers who took 4,000 IU’s (ten times the RDA of 400 IU) of vitamin D during pregnancy had their risk of premature birth reduced by half
  • Premature babies born to women taking high doses of vitamin D were reduced by half at both 32 and 37 weeks, and
  • There were also fewer babies who were born “small for dates”
  • Women taking high doses of vitamin D had a 25 per cent reduction in infections, particularly respiratory infections such as colds and flu as well as fewer infections of the vagina and the gums
  • The “core morbidities of pregnancy” were reduced by 30 per cent in the women who took the high-dose vitamin D (including diabetes, high blood pressure, and pre-eclampsia – a potentially deadly increase in blood pressure and
    fluid)
  • Babies getting the highest amounts of vitamin D after birth had fewer colds and less eczema

Reported by www.naturaleyecare.com

Omega-3 and vitamin D linked to 40% reduced risk of macular degeneration

Study shows that consumption of omega-3 fatty acids and omega-3 rich fish could slash the risk of developing age-related macular degeneration (AMD) by 40 per cent.

Study shows that consumption of omega-3 fatty acids and omega-3 rich fish could slash the risk of developing age-related macular degeneration (AMD) by 40 per cent.

This study adds further support for increasing the ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acids with the finding that arachidonic acid (AA, omega-6 fatty acid) is associated with an increased risk of AMD.

Ref: “Association Between Vitamin D and Age-Related Macular Degeneration in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1988 Through 1994”

Authors: N. Parekh, R.J. Chappell, A.E. Millen, D.M. Albert, J.A. Mares

Archives of Ophthalmology

May 125, 2007 Volume 125, Pages 671-679

See more related information on macular degeneration.

Women with breast cancer have low vitamin D levels

Women with breast cancer should be given high doses of vitamin D because a majority of them are likely to have low levels of vitamin D, which could contribute to decreased bone mass and greater risk of fracture

In a new study, it was found that breast cancer patients have low levels of vitamin D, aggravating low bone mass and fracture risk.

These patients have accelerated loss of bone mass due to hormone and chemo therapies.

The recommended weekly supplement for high doses of vitamin D is 50,000 international units or more improved the levels, according to Peppone’s study and the blood levels close to 32 nanograms per milliliter are adequate according to the U.S. Institute of Medicine.

According to Dr. Cedric Garland, a vitamin D expert and pioneer a woman’s chances of developing breast cancer can be ‘virtually eradicated’ by elevating her vitamin D levels to what  scientists demonstrate are  natural blood levels.

Insufficient levels of vitamin D puts elderly at increased risk of dying from heart disease

Insufficient levels of vitamin D puts elderly at increased risk of dying from heart disease, based on new study recently published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society

A new study by researchers at the University of Colorado Denver and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) shows vitamin D plays a vital role in reducing the risk of death associated with older age. The research, just published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, evaluated the association between vitamin D levels in the blood and the death rates of those 65 and older. The study found that older adults with insufficient levels of vitamin D die from heart disease at greater rates that those with adequate levels of the vitamin, with approximately 1/3 of seniors considered to be deficient in vitamin D.

Editor’s note: Vitamin D3 is the form best absorbed in a supplement. See more information on nutrients and health conditions.